Born This Way (Episode)
Born This Way is the eighteenth episode of Glee's second season and the fortieth episode overall. It premiered on April 26, 2011 in the US, and ran for an extended length of ninety minutes (57 minutes without commercials). As Nationals approaches, Rachel's nose injury causes her to consider nose reconstruction. This brings the rest of the group's insecurities to surface, and Will decides to take things into his own hands and makes it an assignment to sing about loving yourself for your insecurities and flaws. However, Quinn doesn't agree. She's hiding something and Lauren's determined to find out what. Meanwhile, Santana hatches a plan to get Brittany back that also involves getting Kurt to come back to McKinley, but the only person standing in the way is Karofsky. The episode was directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and written by Brad Falchuk. Plot During dance rehearsals for the upcoming nationals competition Glee Club co-captain Finn breaks other co-captain Rachel's nose, caused by his confident, but bad dancing. The doctor confirms this and also recommends elective rhinoplasty, and Rachel considers modeling her nose after Quinn's seemingly perfect nose. Quinn seems unfazed about this, looking excited saying that more people should ask to do this. The two share a mash-up duet of I Feel Pretty from West Side Story and Unpretty by TLC. Rachel and Quinn look a little upset by the end of the song. Both Finn and Rachel's friend Puck oppose her planned transformation. Puck tries to help her accept her nose as part of her Jewish heritage and recruits Kurt Hummel, who convinces her to look to her idol Barbra Streisand; someone who famously refused to succumb to pressure to surgically alter her nose. The three of them join the rest of New Directions and a mall flash mob in performing Duck Sauce's 'Barbra Streisand'. In the end, Rachel decides against going through with the surgery. Santana uses Rachel's broken nose as a launching point to highlight the other group members' flaws. Aiming to help them achieve self-acceptance, Glee Club director Will Schuester urges them to embrace their perceived flaws by printing them on T-Shirts to be worn during a group performance of Lady Gaga's Born This Way. He also encourages school guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury to confront her OCD. She visits a therapist and admits to feeling ashamed of her condition. Though she is initially reluctant to be medicated, her therapist attempts to convince her that she can be helped and prescribes a low-dose SSRI which Emma takes, before emblazoning a T-Shirt with "OCD." In the Glee Club Finn sings I've Gotta Be Me with Mike. Santana, now a closeted lesbian, plans to run for school Prom Queen in the hope that she can win the love of her best friend Brittany. Already suspicious that something is up with popular jock Dave Karofsky after hearing him arguing with Kurt and Blaine over "the truth" in ‎A Night of Neglect, she realizes he is also in the closet after catching Karofsky checking out Sam's butt in the corridor and suggests that they become one another's beards. Santana devises a plan to enable Kurt's return to McKinley from his new school Dalton Academy, ostensibly to bolster the group's chance at Nationals but really to boost her own popularity in an attempt to be voted Prom Queen. She claims to rehabilitate Karofsky (by blackmail), who'd previously bullied Kurt out of the school and the pair begin an anti-bullying scheme, called the "Bully-Whips" . Karofsky issues an apology to Kurt at a group meeting involving Will, Principal Figgins and their respective fathers. Kurt proposes that they start a school PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) club and rejoices in transferring back to McKinley. Once Kurt transfers back to McKinley, everyone in the Glee Club warmly welcomes him. Kurt's boyfriend Blaine serenades him with a rendition of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know, backed by the Dalton Academy Glee Club, The Warblers, during the performance Kurt shares a few goodbyes with the other Warblers and receives a brotherly welcome back hug from Finn, once the song finishes Kurt and Blaine share a loving hug and Kurt whispers "I'm never saying goodbye to you." Blaine walks off, looking back at Kurt as he is surrounded by his old friends with a smile on his face. Upon his re-entry to New Directions, Kurt gives a solo performance of As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard. As the race for prom queen intensifies, Lauren Zizes begins a retaliatory campaigning against Quinn. She discovers that Quinn's real name is Lucy and that she used to be an overweight outcast who had rhinoplasty before re-inventing herself and transferring to McKinley. Lauren attempts to sabotage her campaign by revealing her former image with "Vote For Lucy Caboosey" on it to the other students but it backfires when Quinn's popularity actually increases amongst the girls who had previously looked up to Lauren. Humbled, Lauren apologizes but Quinn concedes and respects her for being proud of herself just as she is. Brittany tries to help Santana embrace her lesbian identity and prints her a misspelled T-shirt reading "Lebanese," that was supposed to read "Lesbian." Santana refuses to join in with the Gaga performance but does wear the T-shirt. The episode closes with the club embracing their identities and performing Born This Way, while Santana and Karofsky watch from the auditorium. They all wear the T-shirts reflecting the traits they have learned to accept. Songs List of Background Songs *'Airmale' by Yoko Ono/The Plastic Ono Band - Plays when Quinn discovers Lauren's poster. *'Barbra Streisand '''by ''Duck Sauce - Danced to by New Directions and the flash mob at the mall. Cast Guest Stars * Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins * Daniel Roebuck as Paul Karofsky * George Wyner as Nose Doctor * Kathleen Quinlan as Dr. Shane * Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang * Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans * Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson * Ashley Fink as Lauren Zizes * Max Adler as Dave Karofsky * James Earl III as Azimio Adams Co-Stars * Dominic Barnes as Trent * Riker Lynch as Jeff * Titus Makin Jr. as David * Eddy Martin as Thad * Curt Mega as Nick Duval * Telly Leung as Wes * Danielle MacDonald as Girl #1 * Sabrena No'mani as Girl #2 * Kate Brochu as Girl #3 * Ryan Heinke as Stoner Brett * Ava Grace Pulido as Toddler Lauren Zizes Trivia *This episode had 8.62 million viewers, making it the least watched episode of the season. *This is the longest episode of Glee with 24 minutes extra screen time than usual. *This episode contains the only duet to date featuring Quinn and Rachel, despite them having one of the more prominent relationships throughout the show. *This is the fifth episode which has the same name as a song featured in it (First was Home, the second was Dream On, the third was Silly Love Songs, and the fourth was Blame It on the Alcohol). *In a cut scene from Original Song, it's revealed that Rachel had been thinking of getting a nose job and told Quinn, who told her not to. Source *This is the second eighteenth episode of a season that involves a storyline which portrays Rachel suffering from a physical condition/injury that affects or may affect her voice. The first one is Laryngitis. *In real life Dianna Agron never got a nose job. Source *The custom made t-shirts: **Artie - "Four Eyes" **Brittany - "I'm With Stoopid" (Upwards Arrow) **Finn - "Can't Dance" **Kurt - "Likes Boys" **Lauren - "Bad Attitude" **Mercedes - "No Weave!" **Mike - "Can't Sing" **Puck - "I'm With Stupid" (Downwards Arrow) **Quinn - "Lucy Caboosey" **Sam - "Trouty Mouth" **Santana - "Bitch" (Hers) "Lebanese" (Brittany's for her; supposed to be "Lesbian") **Tina - "Brown Eyes" **Emma - "OCD" (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) (Originally "Ginger") **Rachel - "Nose" **Will - "Butt Chin" *A reporter asked the cast members what they would put on their own T-shirts. This is what they answered: **Dianna Agron (Quinn): Nerd **Cory Monteith (Finn): Dork **Chris Colfer (Kurt): High-Pitched **Naya Rivera (Santana): Loud **Mark Salling (Puck): Saw **Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina): Shy **Amber Riley (Mercedes): Talks Too Much **Lea Michele (Rachel): Makes Weird Faces When She Sings. Cultural references *When Santana says "I gotta gay. Go. Gotta go," this is referring to the quote in a MadTV Segment where at the end they say the exact quote. Source * When Quinn confronts Lauren in the hall about her running for prom queen,she says that "Somebody's going to spill pig's blood on you or something like that", referring to the 1976 supernatural horror film, Carrie, where outcast Carrie wins prom queen but it ends up being a prank and she gets pig's blood dropped on her. Errors *In the scene where Karofsky is telling the Glee club about how sorry he was about bullying Kurt and his past, Santana tells everyone that she and Karofsky are now a couple. The camera then zooms to Sam and Mercedes. Behind Mercedes seems to be another Santana after she already walked up to Karofsky, because behind Mercedes was the same outfit Santana was wearing. *In this episode Emma claimed that she was five when her obsession with germs began. However, in the season one episode Showmance, she tells Will that she was seven when the fixation began. *As Quinn reads the poster, it says "VOTE FOR LUCY CABOOSEY!" even though Lauren only found out about the nickname a minute prior and thus, she couldn't have made the poster prior to the meeting. Though, Lauren could have known the nickname and just wanting to hear Quinn admit it to torture her further. * In the scene where Brittany gives Santana the shirt saying 'Lebanese', it's made clear that Brittany believes the word 'Lebanese' actually says 'lesbian'. However, in the same scene, she says; "...because you're Lebanese and I think I'm bi-curious?", which would suggest that she actually knows what the shirt says. Quotes Gallery Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m51s62.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m43s238.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m41s221.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m36s176.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m34s161.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m32s136.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m28s90.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m24s70.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h44m18s3.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m58s231.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m44s89.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m52s169.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m39s44.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m35s1.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m32s228.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m30s209.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m28s188.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m25s163.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-17h48m22s123.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h02m33s194.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h02m36s219.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h01m27s46.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h01m22s249.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h01m18s202.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h01m13s160.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h00m48s164.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h00m45s141.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h00m43s113.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h00m39s73.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m28s7.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m23s231.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m22s208.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m18s170.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m13s108.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m16s148.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m09s75.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m06s63.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m03s34.jpg Vlcsnap-2013-05-12-18h18m00s4.jpg Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo1 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo2 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo4 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo5 r2 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo3 r4 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo6 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo7 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnjhzczAlr1ra5gbxo8 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo3 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo2 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo4 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo1 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo5 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo6 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo7 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnfxsuFv601ra5gbxo8 r1 250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo2_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo1_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo3_r2_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo4_r2_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo5_r1_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo6_r1_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo7_r1_250.gif tumblr_mndyopEgK31ra5gbxo8_r1_250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo2 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo1 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo3 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo4 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo5 r1 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo6 r1 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo7 r1 250.gif Tumblr mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo8 r1 250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo1_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo2_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo3_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo4_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo5_r1_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo6_r1_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo7_r1_250.gif tumblr_mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo8_r1_250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo1 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo2 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo3 r2 250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo5 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo4 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo7 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbcjaEH8m1ra5gbxo8 r1 250.gif AdmiringQuinnFabray2.gif Santana Love Brittana3.gif Tumblr mxh0vl1TuV1qd5s0eo3 250.gif IFPU1.png IFPU2.png IFPU3.png IFPU4.png IFPU5.png IFPU7.png IFPU8.png IFPU9.png IFPU10.png IFPU11.png IFPU12.png IFPU13.png IFPU14.png IFPU15.png IFPU17.png IFPU18.png IFPU19.png IFPU21.png IFPU20.png IFPU21.png IFPU22.png IFPU23.png IFPU24.png IFPU25.png IFPU26.png IFPU28.png IFPU30.png IFPU31.png S02e18-01-i-feel-pretty-unpretty-032.jpg Faberryy - I feel pretty unpretty.gif Ifeelprettyunpretty.gif IGBMFinn.jpg 966303_1330783898871_full.jpg Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo1 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo2 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo3 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo4 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo5 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo6 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo7 r1 250.gif Tumblr mnbxu3ahsk1ra5gbxo8 r1 250.gif SOWN.png Tumblr_m3xteprwgL1qiascco3_250.gif SOWN1.png SOWN2.png SOWN3.png SOWN4.png SOWN5.png SOWN7.png SOWN8.png SOWN9.png SOWN10.png SOWN11.png SOWN12.png SOWN13.png SOWN14.png SOWN15.png SOWN17.png SOWN18.png SOWN19.png SOWN20.png SOWN21.png SOWN22.png SOWN23.png somewhere only we know usignoli (larry berry).PNG 4-23-2011-12-53-03-AM.jpg tumblr_ml0dcgqidE1qfqp94o2_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo2_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo1_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo3_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo4_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo5_r1_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo6_r1_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo7_r1_250.gif tumblr_mndw31HVfd1ra5gbxo8_r1_250.gif somewhere only we know.png Kurt4.jpg tumblr_lkiuioW9pi1qby0coo1_500.jpg tumblr_lklrq0ow7e1qe476yo1_500.jpg aiwnsgbtw.jpg backstage.jpg btw9neversaidgoodbye.jpg kurtbornthisway.jpg mirror.jpg aiwnsg.jpg kurt2fsf.png kurt34sdjkn.png dkjssd.png AIWNSG1.png AIWNSG2.png AIWNSG3.png AIWNSG4.png AIWNSG6.png AIWNSG7.png AIWNSG8.png AIWNSG9.png AIWNSG10.png AIWNSG11.png AIWNSG12.png AIWNSG13.png AIWNSG14.png AIWNSG15.png AIWNSG16.png AIWNSG17.png AIWNSG18.png AIWNSG19.png AIWNSG20.png AIWNSG21.png AIWNSG22.png AIWNSG23.png AIWNSG24.png AIWNSG25.png AIWNSG27.png AIWNSG29.png AIWNSG30.png AIWNSGKurt.jpg KURTSY.gif BTW1.png BTW2.png BTW3.png BTW5.png BTW6.png BTW8.png BTW11.png BTW13.png Imageskurt likes boys.jpeg BTW14.png BTW16.png BTW17.png BTW18.png BTW19.png BTW21.png BTW22.png BTW23.png BTW24.png BTW25.png BTW26.png BTWEmma.jpg BTWKurt.jpg BTWMercedes.jpg BTWSam.jpg BTWMike.jpg BTWSantana.jpg BTWBrittany.png BTWFritters.png BTWQuinn.png tumblr mgschrhty71r7lepzo1 250.gif tumblr mkwunknED31r2aexjo6 r1 250.gif BornThisWayQuitt.gif Btw episode still 1.jpg Glee-born-this-way-2.jpg BSG.png BSGC.png images845834.jpg Glee_Barbra Streisand (Duck Sauce).jpg Vlcsnap-2013-04-28-15h15m10s79.png Vlcsnap-2013-04-28-15h15m14s105.png Vlcsnap-2013-05-05-18h42m45s191.png Vlcsnap-2013-05-05-18h42m42s158.png Tumblr n18084GPnw1tp7vbio6 250.gif Tumblr n18084GPnw1tp7vbio5 250.gif Tumblr n18084GPnw1tp7vbio4 250.gif Tumblr n18084GPnw1tp7vbio3 250.gif Tumblr n18084GPnw1tp7vbio2 250.gif Tumblr n18084GPnw1tp7vbio1 250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto1_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto2_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto3_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto4_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto5_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto6_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto7_250.gif tumblr_n533o5AdsY1r0lapto8_250.gif tumblr_mu4k8rjFYS1r7lepzo1_250.gif Tumblr n587tjOOAX1s3ruepo1 250.gif Tumblr n587tjOOAX1s3ruepo3 250.gif Tumblr n587tjOOAX1s3ruepo4 250.gif Tumblr n587tjOOAX1s3ruepo2 250.gif Tumblr n587tjOOAX1s3ruepo5 250.gif Tumblr n587tjOOAX1s3ruepo6 250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo2_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo6_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo5_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo3_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo4_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo1_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo7_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo8_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo9_250.gif tumblr_n58am2HNIY1s3ruepo10_250.gif tumblr_n7b8rbcaDC1rk63wco4_r4_250.gif tumblr_n7b8rbcaDC1rk63wco6_r2_250.gif tumblr_n7b8rbcaDC1rk63wco3_r12_250.gif tumblr_n7b8rbcaDC1rk63wco5_r2_250.gif tumblr_n7b8rbcaDC1rk63wco1_r3_250.gif tumblr_n7b8rbcaDC1rk63wco2_r3_250.gif tumblr_nbh9mid1JB1qaxxelo1_250.gif tumblr_nbh9mid1JB1qaxxelo2_250.gif tumblr_nbh9mid1JB1qaxxelo4_250.gif tumblr_nbh9mid1JB1qaxxelo3_250.gif tumblr_mj7it6z9tb1r28rvzo3_250.gif tumblr_mj7it6z9tb1r28rvzo2_250.gif tumblr_mj7it6z9tb1r28rvzo4_250.gif tumblr_mj7it6z9tb1r28rvzo1_250.gif Tumblr ndvltopmrK1ti13y5o4 250.gif Tumblr ndvltopmrK1ti13y5o3 250.gif Tumblr ndvltopmrK1ti13y5o2 250.gif Tumblr ndvltopmrK1ti13y5o1 250.gif Truta.jpg KurtundBlaine4.jpg Screen shot 2011-07-04 at 10.58.11 PM.png Videos Navigational Category:Episodes Category:Season Two Episodes Category:Glee Wiki Awards Winner